Applied English Grammar & Composition A Competition Oriented Course for Senior Students

P. N. Gupta M.A. (Psych.), M.A. (Eng.), BT PhD (Eng.) Former English Teacher

© Prem Narayan Gupta 2018 All rights reserved All rights reserved by author. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author. Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within. First Published in September 2018 ISBN:"978-93-88287-75-3"

BLUE ROSE PUBLISHERS www.bluerosepublishers.com [email protected] +91 8882 898 898 Cover Design: Shardool Vikram Singh

Typographic Design: Shreya Arora Distributed by: Blue Rose, Amazon, Flipkart, Shopclues

Preface: The ability to speak or write good English in today’s competitive world is considered to be a symbol of success and status. Contrary to this, a poor ability in this regard is probably the greatest single bar to career advancement. The book, ‘Applied English Grammar & Composition’ is meant for students, professionals, and people in general who wish to get over this problem. Its comprehensive coverage of grammar rules in simple words enables students to gain greater control over written and Spoken English. Grammatical problems are often tricky and cause difficulty to the learner. In this book, the use of terminology has been reduced to a minimum and at tempt has been made to make po ints clear by means of copious examples and simple explanations. The book consists of thirty two units, each dealing with a specific topic. Exercises have been added to the end of each topic so that students could practice in using each construction. Composition The ability to write good English is not easy to acquire. One has to be extensive reader of good prose and do a great deal of syntactical exercises. The author has included comprehension and précis in this book with a view to enhancing students’ ability so that they could understand written English much better for eventual success in the examination. It is hoped, a thorough practice by students in written composition will develop their ability to write clear, simple and correct English. Besides, a chapter on letter-writing skills has also been included in order to explain the basic rules and methods connected with informal, formal and business letters. Finally, though much care has been taken in the preparation of this book, there is still room for improvement. The author will be pleased to acknowledge comments or suggestions of any kind from students or teachers to make it more helpful for learners of English.

P.N.Gupta

Part: 1 Grammar Contents Unit 1: Articles

1

Unit 2: The Definite Article

7

Unit 3: Number

17

Unit 4: Gender

23

Unit 5: The Possessive

26

Unit 6: Pronouns (1)

31

Unit 7: Pronouns (2)

37

Unit 8: Pronouns (3)

52

Unit 9: Adjectives (1)

57

Unit 10: Adjectives (2)

71

Unit 11: Common Quantity Words

84

Unit 12: Verbs

101

Unit 13: Tenses

113

Unit 14: The past tense

120

Unit 15: The present perfect tense

126

Unit 16 : The present perfect continuous tense

133

Unit 17 : The past perfect tense

136

Unit 18 : Future with ‘Shall’ and ‘Will’

140

Unit 19: Other forms of the future tense

145

Unit 20 : Subject verb agreement

149

Unit 21: Uses of modal verbs (1)

155

Unit 22 : Modal auxiliaries and related verbs (2)

160

Unit 23 : ‘Have’ as a full verb

167

Unit 24 : Who/whom/whose/what/which

170

Unit 25 : Infinitive

181

Unit 26 : Gerund and participle

192

Unit 27: Adverbs

205

Unit 28 : Conditional sentences

223

Unit 29 : Direct and indirect speech

230

Unit 30: Prepositions

242

Unit 31: Conjunctions

255

Unit 32: The transformation of sentences

263

Answer key

268

Contents Overview Unit 1 Basic uses of the article: a/an The singular and plural countable nouns; use of a/an to categorize people, animals or things; the use of ‘an’ and the silent ‘h’; uncountable nouns; material nouns as things; uncountable used as countable; abstract noun; the use of ‘a’ and ‘an’ with expressions of measurement; indefinite article with drinks; describes people, profession, occupation, titles and illnesses Unit 2 The definite article Use of ‘the’ to particularize a noun, represents a class or kind of anything; ‘the’ with plural names of people; ‘the’ before organizations, plural names of countries, before nationality adjectives; ‘the’ before castes, community, race or group as a whole; use of ‘the’ before names of govt. agencies, names of places and buildings; the’ before names of mountain ranges, collective nouns; omission of ‘the’ Unit 3 Number Singular and plural forms of noun; rules to make a noun plural; plurals of foreign origin; nouns with singular and plural forms; singular nouns used in a plural sense; compound nouns; instruments/tools with two parts used as plurals; illnesses with singular or plural forms; nouns followed by a plural verb; collective nouns (groups of people) used with singular or plural verbs; surnames made plural Unit 4 Gender Kinds of gender; nouns with different forms for the masculine and feminine; different ways to form masculine and feminine gender; commonly used words for both sexes; words having –man/woman ending; nouns used for both the sexes; titles and their uses Unit 5 The possessive Formation of the possessive- adding (’s) to singular nouns and names; (’) to plural nouns; (’s) with initials; (’s) to irregular plural nouns; (-’) with a period of time; (’s) with a point of time, space or weight; adding (’s) when two names are joined by ‘and’; using (’s) with compound nouns; the use of two apostrophes; (’s) with churches/colleges/saints; (’s) with indefinite pronouns; (’s) with organizations; (’s) with animals/non living things; (’s) with names of places/countries

Unit 6 Pronouns (1) Forms of personal pronouns; uses of ‘it’; object pronouns after ‘be’; the use of “it’s me”; uses of ‘that/who’ to form clauses; subject pronouns- their uses; uses of object pronouns after ‘as’ and ‘than’; ‘as’ and ‘than’ as conjunctions; uses of object forms after- but, except and as well as; uses of one, one’s Unit 7 Pronouns (2) Forms of possessive adjectives/pronouns and their uses; position of possessive adjectives/pronouns; forms of reflexive pronouns and their uses; verbs followed by reflexive pronouns; verbs used with reflexive pronouns; reflexive pronounstheir uses after prepositions; indefinite pronouns- their uses; use of apostrophe‘s’ with indefinite pronouns; the use of ‘else’ after indefinite pronouns; distributive adjectives and pronouns- their uses; subject verb agreement Unit 8 Pronouns (3) Various uses of ‘it’; ‘it’ replaces the real subject; ‘it’ used as a preparatory object; ‘it’ as introductory subject for an - ing form, ‘it’ as the subject with: appear, seem, look, sound, happen, occur to, take; ‘it’ can be used to replace a ‘that-clause’; ‘it’ introduces sentences with if, as if, and as though; the use of ‘it’ for personal qualities Unit 9 Adjectives (1) Adjectives- their formation; position of adjectives; attributive/predicative uses of adjectives; ‘be’ + adjectives; adjectives after appear, seem, grow, etc.; adjectives after verbs like get, turn, grow, etc. adjectives after verbs of senses/after objects; adj. in titles; nationality words as adjectives; compound nouns as adjectives; compound adjectives from nouns; adjectives with qualifiers; adjective patterns; adverbs used as modifiers; confused and misused words; adjectives in ‘–ly’ forms; words used as adjectives and adverbs; words with the same form but differing in meaning Unit 10 Adjectives (2) Degrees of comparison- their formation; irregular comparison; ‘more’ and ‘most’ in comparison; adjectives ending in ‘y’, ‘-full’ ‘-less’ ‘-ed’ and ‘–ing’; comparatives with–er/-est or more/most, less/least; adjectives of two/three syllables; the use of ‘than’ after comparatives; words/structures of different kinds showing similarity and identity; words, expressions that modify comparatives; patterns with the comparatives; correct uses of – superior/inferior/ junior/

senior/preferable/prior; the superlative- its uses; comparative and superlative adverbs; words often confused and misused; common errors Unit 11 Common quantity words Uses of common quantity words; ‘much’ before adjectives/with comparatives; uses of as, too, so, lot/lots (of); several/plenty (of); enough, a great deal of; few, a few, the few; very few; fewer, fewest; little, a little, the little; less, least; quantity words as pronouns; words with more/less after quantity words; uses of both/all/all (of), also the whole (of); difference between ‘not all’ and ‘none’; the use of ‘all’ and ‘whole’ with time references; uses of all/both before ‘the’ and also before demonstratives, possessives and after helping verbs; uses of ‘both’ and ‘all’ before the main verb Unit 12 Verbs Transitive and intransitive verbs; transitive verb with an object; the complement; the purpose and forms of complement; verbs with two objects; active and passive voice; changing active voice into the passive; stative verbs; verbs followed by object + to- infinitive; noun + infinitive; to be + the past participle; the –ing form; uses of passive forms; it + passive + that-clause + verb; active verbs with a passive meaning; verbs used in the passive; modal verbs with perfect infinitives; verbs with prepositions; sentences with object complement; get + past participle; the causative; uses of get Unit 13 Tenses Types of tense: the simple present- concerns with permanent truths, habits, routines; used for dramatic effect, commentaries, future programmes and timetables; formation of the simple present; the present continuous- formation and uses; verbs of the senses- see, look, watch, hear, listen, smell, taste, and feel Unit 14 The past tense Refers to past events- short quickly finished actions and situations; formation of the simple past; adverbs of time with the simple past; uses of simple past- habitual actions or states in the past; used (to); used to be; ‘would’ and their uses; used to (adj.)- its use; past continuous tense- formation- its uses;

Unit 15 Present perfect tense Formation- its uses; time expressions with the present perfect: up till now, up to now, so far, before, before now; uses of adverbs- recently, already, lately, yet, still with present perfect; present perfect and adverbs of period of time; uses of gone to; been to; been in; ‘since’ and ‘for’- their uses; have/has been + noun, adjective, states and moods Unit 16 Present perfect continuous tense Its various uses; continuity verbs with present perfect continuous tense; uses of ‘since’ and ‘for’; ‘since’ used as conjunction; the use of ‘since when?’- ‘how long?’ with present perfect continuous tenses; present perfect compared with perfect continuous tense Unit 17 Past Perfect and Past Perfect Continuous Tense definition- shows priority between two past actions; the use of time adverbials with past perfect: uses of no sooner than, hardly, scarcely and barely with past perfect; the present perfect and past perfect compared; the past perfect continuous tense- definition; uses of all day, all night, all the afternoon with past perfect; uses of continuity verbs Unit 18 Future tense predicting the future- uses of shall and will; forms of the simple future tense; contracted forms; other uses of ‘shall’ and ‘will’; shall/will expresses hopes, expectations, etc.; the use of ‘will’ to express determination; using ‘shall’ and ‘will’ to make promises, requests, offers, suggestions, threats, order, etc; some other ways of expressing futurity Unit 19 Other forms of the future tense the future continuous tense; tense formation; its uses for planned future activities/day’s activities with no intention or plan; its uses for a polite way of asking about future plans and intentions; the future perfect tense: tense formation; its meaning and uses; the use of future perfect continuous tense- its purpose; time clauses with future perfect continuous Unit 20 Subject verb agreement The use of –s or –es with verbs in the present tense; verb with two or more subjects; verb when two nouns refer to the same person or thing; verb when two nouns express a single idea: verb with two items as separate; verbs after either…

or, neither… nor; not only… but also; verbs after each, everyone, somebody, nobody/no one, anybody, anyone, either, none, some, much, both, many, several, few, many a man, as well as; verb with a ‘whole amount’; singular subjects followed by with, along with, together with; ‘one of’ followed by a plural noun; verbs with collective nouns; nouns ending in –ics Unit 21 Uses of modal verbs (1) Can/could- their uses; future possibility with ‘could’; can/could for possible actions in the future; ‘could’ for actions just possible; past ability with ‘could’; uses of may, might; ‘can’ and ‘may’ compared; uses of might; may be/might be for possibility; guessing possibility in the past Unit 22 Modal auxiliaries and related verbs (2) Uses of should, ought, had better, must; uses of am, is, are (not) + to for instructions and prohibitions; needn’t; ‘have to’ as an alternative to ‘must’; have to and have got to forms; uses of needn’t have + past participle/should have + past participle/ought to have + past participle; dare- its uses Unit 23 ‘Have’ as full verb ‘Have’ as an auxiliary; ‘have’ as a normal verb- to express ‘possession’; gotforms; various meanings of ‘have’: have for food and drinks, for pains and illnesses; have for an appointment, a date, etc; to have a letter/message, to have visitors/guests/a phone call, to have a talk/ride, to have an accident, etc. Unit 24 Who/whom/whose/what/which Uses of who/whom; ‘who’ as subject; ‘who’ requests for details; prepositions with ‘who’; who/that as joining words; whoever- as subject/object; whom?- its uses; relative clauses; prepositions with ‘whom’; whose?- its uses; ‘whose’ in relative clauses; prepositions with ‘whose’? ‘What’ and ‘which’ for identifying people and things; what/which- their uses; the use of the structure ‘what ...like?’ – ‘prepositional phrases’ Unit 25 Infinitive Infinitive- a verbal noun; bare infinitive; modal verbs/bare infinitive; ways of using infinitive; verbs followed by infinitive; uses of ‘let’; verb + object + infinitive without ‘to’; verbs of perception; bare infinitive; be + to-infinitive; infinitive of purpose; object compliments; infinitive after adjective; adjective + toinfinitive; have/has + to-infinitive; ‘to let’ ; too + adjective + to-infinitive;

infinitive with prepositions; likely/unlikely- there uses; certain/sure to; the use of infinitive in exclamations; infinitive after ‘only’; infinitive after conjunctions; split infinitives; the perfect infinitive- its uses Unit 26 Gerund and participle Gerund used as verbal nouns- their uses; gerund with possessive adjectives; gerunds as countable nouns; gerunds followed by verbs; verbs followed by gerund or infinitive; uses of gerund after ‘come’ and ‘go’; adjective/verb +preposition + gerund; the use of perfect gerund; –ing forms before nouns; the participle- its kinds; participle clauses; the use of perfect participle; verb + object + participle; present participles like adverbs, can replace ‘as’ and ‘because’; participles with ‘it’ and ‘there’; present participles with conjunctions and prepositions; uses of be/get bored and some other words Unit 27 Adverbs Adverbs as modifiers; kinds of adverb- adverb of manner, its formation and position in a sentence; adverbs of definite time, formation and its position; adverbs of frequency and their position; adverbs of place and their position; adverbs of degree and their position; viewpoint adverbials; linking adverbs; adverb clauses; clauses of time; adverb Clauses of contrast; interrogative adverbs; relative adverbs Unit 28 Conditional sentences The ‘if ‘clause and its meaning; if-clause in type one- open condition; uses of unless, provided, on the condition, suppose/supposing; the use of ‘then’ in the main clause; uses of as long as, so long as, in case; should in type one; type 2: unreal situations; expression of imaginary situations; uses of ‘wish’ or ‘if only’ with the past continuous; uses of as if/as though, it’s time, it’s high time; expressing impatience, doubt, possibility; expressing the unreal in the past; the use of ‘but for’ Unit 29 Direct and indirect speech Basic rules- conditions of change in the reported speech; the use of conjunction ‘that’; change of pronouns in the reported speech; change of time and place; shall/will in indirect statements; ‘can’, ‘may’, ‘must’ in reported speech; uses of ‘must’ for advice, commands, and prohibitions; uses of needn’t, ought, used to, had better in reported speech; let’s in reported speech; ‘let’ used as an ordinary verb; third person imperative; ‘suggest’ in indirect speech; questions in reported

speech; imperatives in reported speech; sentences beginning with please, sir; verbs + that-construction; exclamatory sentences in indirect speech Unit 30 Prepositions Common prepositions- of time and date; prepositions with public places and buildings; ‘at’ with names of group activities, place of residence, place of work, etc; ‘at’ with proper names of buildings or organizations; ‘in’ and ‘at’ for buildings, with schools, colleges and universities; at/in with places of worship, hospitals, etc; uses of arrive at/in; uses of at the front/back; in/on the sea/river/lake; on the bus/on the train; in the bus, coach, plane, boat, etc; saying on a trip/journey/voyage; uses of prepositions other than place or time Unit 31 Conjunctions Kinds of conjunction; functions of conjunctions; co-ordinating conjunctions to form compound sentences; problem of the same subject in both clauses; joining more than two clauses; uses of but, still/yet, or, therefore, for, so, also/too/as well to form compounds; uses of either …or, neither … nor, not only … but also; chief subordinating conjunctions, their uses to form complex sentences; relative pronouns as conjunctions Unit 32 Transformation of sentences Transformation and its meaning; ‘too … to’ replaced by ‘so … that’; interchange of degrees of comparison; interchange of one part of speech for another; interchange of affirmative and negative/negative and affirmative sentences; also, interchange of interrogative/affirmative sentences; interchange of affirmative, exclamatory sentences; interchange of exclamatory and affirmative sentences; interchange of active and passive voice; interchange of passive and active voice

Unit 1

Articles

1.1 Basic uses of the article: a/an A noun that does not refer to the particular name of a person, place or thing is a common noun. All common nouns are either countable nouns or uncountable nouns. Singular countable: Many countable nouns can be counted (eg: one, two, three…etc). They include persons, animals, plants, etc. As a general rule a singular countable noun must take an indefinite article, either ‘a’ or ‘an’ before it when used for the first time. Look at the following examples: A man came to meet you this morning. There is an apple for you. Pass me a spoon, please. He lives in a village. There is an egg on the plate. Note that ‘a’ in the first sentence singles out a person and suggests the idea of ‘any’. In the second sentence, the use of ‘an’ means ‘one’. 1.2 The article a/an is used to categorize people, animals or things Look at the examples: A pilot is a man who flies aeroplanes. A sailor works in ships. A tiger is a fierce animal. A whale is a very large sea animal. A man is a social being. A rose is a beautiful flower. A diamond is a precious stone, etc. Note: a/an can be used before adjectives only when a noun follows them. 1.3 Plural countable Plural countable nouns don’t take any articles when referred to for the first time: Look at the examples: Cows are grazing. Dogs are barking. Farmers are ploughing. Boys are playing. Chairs are made of wood. Stars are shining. Eggs are eaten as food. Doctors are professionals. Cats are mewing. Birds are flying high. Postmen wear caps. Children are innocent. 1.4 The use of ‘an’ Remember: the choice between ‘a’ or ‘an’ depends on the sound they produce, not just the spelling. ‘A’ is used before consonant sounds, eg: A bat, a cat, etc. ‘An’ is used before words that start with vowel sounds, eg, an apple, an egg, an ice-box, an ox, an umpire, etc. If a vowel sounds like a consonant, it will take ‘a’ 1